An Auror's Tale
by Rebecca Victorine Levis
Summary: Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter is driven by guilt at her mother's actions. In training to become an Auror, Quinnella Lestrange must confront her family and the evil she fears to find buried in herself. IN PROGRESS, please review!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer- If anyone seriously thinks I own HP or any of JK Rowling's characters, I am worried about them.  
  
A Quick Intro- this story takes place during HP's 6th year. It's my first attempt to write Harry Potter fan fiction, so please review kindly. I only have one chapter completed so far, but more coming. I'm always looking for new ideas so anyone who has them can reach me at jlevi2ve@mwc.edu  
  
This is for Suzanne, my amazing little sis. It's the story I promised her I'd write one day.  
  
An Auror's Tale  
  
It was three hours past midnight in Longbottom Tower, and cold. Where was that blasted owl? Quinnella chewed on yet another quill. Black thoughts kept her from her reading; Great Aurors of the 18th Century lay unopened on her desk. Antigone should have returned hours ago. The owl was old, but sound, not like that elderly wreck who had belonged to the Weasleys. Quinn wondered how Fred and George were. The twins were legend now- even her studious sister Zelda was thrilled when they returned to Hogwarts for a visit.  
  
It was Zelda that Quinn worried about- the fourth year was quieter than she had been, her gregariousness tempered by the events of the last school year and the death of Sirius Black. Their Uncle, she realized. Harry Potter was the only one of their generation who had known him; to the rest of them, he was just a dangerous criminal on the run from justice. And now he was gone. Her only link to her own past, whom she had never even seen. Quinn still felt the occasional pang of jealousy and regret. At least Zelda was innocent- she still believed the muggles Jane and Langley Folsom were her true parents. The Folsoms had plucked the tiny Quinnella from foster care, and had been good enough not to ask questions about the baby brought by their case worker seven years later- a baby born, so the rumors said, in Azkaban.  
  
She was grateful, she supposed, to Dumbledore, for keeping her in ignorance during her years at Hogwarts. It had been hard enough to bear the guilt after her graduation, when the Headmaster had taken her aside and told her the truth about her mother and father. Bellatrix Lestrange; practitioner of the Dark Arts. Death Eater. Murderer. Her husband Rudolphus, whom she spurned for the favor of the Dark Lord himself. It was because of Bellatrix that the famous Aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom had lost their minds; Harry Potter's classmate Neville had been deprived of parents. It was Bellatrix who had killed Sirius and sent him tumbling beyond the veil, shock and betrayal etched on his face, laughter on hers. So much ruin her mother had wrought, so much pain.  
  
Quinnella's eyes darted around her single room, a mark of status and privacy given to seniors at Acheron College. Longbottom Tower was named for Frank and Alice, of course, and it was the most modern of the dormitories. With a sigh, Quinn turned back to the book on her desk. Antigone was not going to return tonight, and her pile of assignments only grew longer. At Zelda's age Quinn had entertained many fantasies about her future- perhaps she would be a great singer like Celestina Warbeck, or maybe a writer, though not for that lying rag the Prophet. Those choices were gone now. Her future had been decided the day she learned the true nature of her birth. In a few months she would graduate from Acheron College, and take her place as an Auror. br br  
  
All was quiet at Acheron in the last moments before dawn. Quinn had finally drifted into an uneasy sleep, her book fallen to the floor, when beating wings and a hungry squawk brought her to wakefulness.  
"Antigone! You've been gone long enough!" The owl nipped gently, and held out her leg. Quinnella shredded the envelope and devoured the short note.  
  
i "Dear Quinn, I know you gotta be busy with studying and all- I remember my senior year at Acheron and it wasn't a party. I'm sorry to tell you we have no news of your mum. Your sister is safe at school- all the teachers know. Harry is still in shock over what happened last year- and Neville's a brave kid too but it ain't easy for him.  
  
I'm sorry, Quinn, I was s'posed to be writing with good news- the Order is reviewing your application. I know this means a lot to you, so I put in a good word. No one holds you in blame for the things Bella did.  
  
Tonks /i  
  
Her old friend had been as good as her word, speaking to the others in the Order. It was good to see Nymphadora Tonks had not changed. But the news she had tried to soften was still a blow. Bellatrix had always been accomplished at Apparating- she could be anywhere by now. Where Bellatrix went, Voldemort was not far behind. Quinn hoped Hogwarts was as safe as Tonks promised. Protecting Harry and Neville was the Order's job- as a member of the Order of the Phoenix she would finally be able to atone for the wrongs done by her mother. It would be a relief, to finally be done with the secret she still kept from so many. But she was undeserving of that honor, she knew. She was the firstborn child of Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange. Evildoers, evil blood. Could the Order ever see past the stain upon her name? 


	2. Two

Two  
  
Zelda sat cross legged in the Gryffindor common room, playing a game of Wizarding Chess with Luna Lovegood. Hermione was deeply absorbed in "Modern House Elves- A Study", and made grunting noises at passages she disliked. Harry and Ron were arguing about the finer points of an upcoming Quidditch match with Ravenclaw, and Zelda looked up crossly.  
  
"You two are blowing my concentration. Ron, give me a hand? You're the best at Wizarding Chess and Luna's going to slaughter me."  
  
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Zel." Ron laughed. "You want to move the queen three spaces diagonally, like that." He pushed the black queen across the board and Luna pouted as the stone figure decapitated one of her knights.  
  
"Have you heard from Quinn?" Harry asked suddenly. "She's going to graduate in a couple months, right? I'm applying to Acheron next year and I was hoping to visit the grounds- not that they'll be anything on Hogwarts, but I'd like to see the Owlery, and maybe meet some of her professors. Acheron has one of the best Auror training programs in Britain, you know"  
  
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hermione had been listening despite her apparent absorption in the House Elf study. "The Order's been working overtime to keep Harry safe at Hogwarts- it could be just the opportunity the Death Eaters need to get him out of the castle, so to speak- in plain range of You-Know Who and that horrible woman who killed Sirius- Oh Harry, I'm sorry- I never should have mentioned."  
  
"That's all right", he said.  
  
"I'm sure Quinnella would love to have you." Zelda had forgotten the chess game at the thought of her sister. "Quinn is great friends with Tonks. Maybe she could take you for a visit at Christmas. Did you know Quinn's applying to the Order of the Phoenix? Shacklebolt has her papers right now- I'll make her send an owl as soon as she finds out."  
  
"It's supposed to be very dangerous work. Do you think Quinn ought to do it?" Neville had wandered over to their group, and he looked concerned.  
  
"Of course she ought to!" Zelda said. "Quinnella didn't get eight N.E.W.T.s, and then bust her butt for three years at Acheron so she could bug out at the first sign of danger. She's already assisted in the capture of a rogue dementor and she volunteers with the Werewolf Welfare Network on weekends!"  
  
Neville was impressed. "Gran would love it if I became an Auror someday. Only you need loads of O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s and all I'm good at is herbology."  
  
"That isn't true," said Luna. "You need courage and pluck to be an Auror. Both of those are traits you have in spades. Who else would have faced down Bellatrix Lestrange"-The rest of Luna's speech was lost to Zelda as she suddenly felt dizzy.  
  
"Please, let's not talk about her. She has powers no one can guess at. Even her name is black. No one knows where she is- it's said even the dementors cannot hold her." Zelda's face was twisted as she spoke, and Hermione approached her with concern.  
  
"You'd better sit down, Zel, before you fall down. The Order of the Phoenix will find that woman and deal with her, along with all the rest. Have a butterbeer, it will calm you down. Now don't you have some homework you should be working on?"  
  
More coming soon, if people review! 


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